Pincho Factory's Dr. Phillips location closes

DR. PHILLIPS  After less than a year in business, Pincho Factory announced recently that its Dr. Phillips location has been permanently closed.

The company released a statement Thursday, Feb. 23, in regards to shuttering its Orlando location:

"Pincho Factory maintains high standards of quality, consistency and service that our customers have come to expect when dining at a Pincho Factory restaurant. In order to assure a uniform image and uniform quality of products and services in all Pincho Factory restaurants, we require that our franchisees strictly comply with our standards and specifications," the company stated. "Unfortunately, the franchisee that owned and operated the Pincho Factory restaurant located in the Dr. Phillips neighborhood in Orlando mismanaged the restaurant and failed to meet these standards. 

"After many attempts to get the restaurant into compliance, we were left with no choice but to close the restaurant in order to protect the Pincho Factory brand. We are sorry to see this restaurant close and we look forward to the opening of other Pincho Factory locations in Orlando in the future.

The chain was initially started by co-founders and cousins Nedal Ahmad, Nizar Ahmad and Otto Othman about six years ago. Nestled in the Marketplace at Dr. Phillips next to Starbucks, Pincho Factory’s Orlando location opened in March 2016. It was the sixth location for the South Florida-based eatery and the first in the Central Florida area. On Yelp, the Orlando location is rated 3.8 out of 5 stars.

Pincho Factory specializes in burgers and pinchos — its namesake — which essentially are kebabs. The menu includes a variety of burgers and pincho entrées, along with chicken sandwiches, hot dogs, salads, fries and tater tots.

“This is not goodbye, it’s just see you later,” CEO Nedal Ahmad tweeted Feb. 20 in response to an inquiry on the Orlando location’s closing on Twitter.

For more information on Pincho Factory, visit pinchofactory.com. 

Contact Danielle Hendrix at [email protected].